sucking sound coming from fox van r

[pedro]

Hello,

I bought a used fox vanillar R, coil, shock. I removed the coil to cycle the shaft and noticed it would make a "sucking" sound as it returned to its full length. I have read somewhere, that this is called    cavitation   and that it happens when air gets into the damping system.  

The damping and adjustment do seem to work, at least in my hands; but will I be able to get any quality use out of it?  if it works ok will it be too noisy?
If I can get some use out of it, can it blow up any time?

please let me know

Pedro

[Matno]

Cavitation shouldn't cause any damage to your shock unless most of your oil somehow leaked out. Unlikely if the damping works. If there were a real problem, the damping wouldn't work AT ALL. The noise is annoying, but bearable. The ride quality won't change unless the amount of oil is significantly changed.
However, it shouldn't be too difficult to repair. Fox is pretty good with service (email them - you should get a very fast reply), and they have a lot of authorized service places (i.e. LBS's). Changing oil in a shock, even a Fox, should be something that you can do at home. Since you don't have a warranty anyway, you have little to lose in doing it yourself (unless the Fox shocks are nitrogen charged or something crazy like that. Check first!)

[numbnuts]

I checked mine and it does make a little noise also, not that I've noticed when riding. Anyway it works great and if it blows I still have the nr1 sitting around as a spare, I'll fix it then !

[pedro]

I was not aware that the foxes could have the oil changed at home. Is there a   How to guide anywhere?  I have a couple of Vanillas R and would not be afraid to give it a try.

[GaryF52]

My Vanilla R makes sort of a wheazing sound on the rebound stroke.  Has since it was new.  Never bothered me at all on the trail, and the damping is excellent.

I'm no expert but the sound your shock is making is probably normal.  There is no reason to expect a shock to be completely silent

[pedro]

I feel better about my new "used" Van R now. I was doubtful because I checked another new Van R which I own, and it did not make any rebound sounds.
Thanks for the feedback
pedro

[junkster]

i am having the same problem now with my stratos xc pro air/oil shock. Sounds like cavitation is occurring. shock still works fine it seems so will see if it gets worse. I bought it secondhand off a friend who \had had it serviced recently so was a little surprised at the cavitation after only one 10mile ride.

[pedro]

I installed my used Van R and it is working ok.
I  say, if your shock works do not worry about the sound, unless the sound is loud enough that you can hear it while riding, then it would be a pain.